USGA to golfers: ‘While we’re young’

The golf industry needs a pick-me-up and it figures comedian Rodney Dangerfield, who died in 2004, is just the guy to hack its way out of the woods.

No joke. The United States Golf Association thinks a dead comic, a guy who made his millions pranking himself over lack of respect, can resurrect the game, make it a bit more hip, and most important, help it convince everyone to play at a faster clip.

We all know golf is far too slow, if just to watch, never mind play. Dangerfield was never my choice of chuckles, but his 1980 performance in “Caddyshack,” the golf sendup, is widely considered a comedic classic. The USGA has clipped one of his iconic lines, “While we’re young!’’ as the title to its campaign to speed up the pace of play.